AN EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY
[The following is an email received from Peni Gray, member of St. Stephen's UCC in Sandusky, and Chair of the NWOA Witness & Proclamation Team. Peni has just returned from a relief trip to the region affected by Hurricane Katrina.]
Hello Everyone,
I'm back from the south, and back to work. The Red Cross, Salvation Army, Southern Baptist and many local groups are doing remarkable work in this huge disaster. I want to thank most of you for holding back from sending e-mails, there was very little access to computers and e-mail, because there was no electricity most of the time. I'm back, safe in my home, while a lot of those effected by Katrina have no home to return to.
Hurricane Katrina was devastating and crippling. Everything we saw on TV was terrible, but seeing it in person, looking into the eyes of the people it happened to and hearing their stories, makes it even worse. Many of the people in the shelters were illiterate, so filling out the paperwork to get help was a major barrier. It may come as a surprise to you, but more than New Orleans was damaged. There were small and large communities up to 75 miles inland that sustained damage. I was in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, (pronounced Mizipi, to the locals). In Hattiesburg is the University Of Southern Mississippi, it's a very large city. I didn't hear anything about Hattiesburg until I was sent there. The USM sustained $100 million damage to their campus. It is a large campus that used to have many large pine tree. There are a few left now. That area of Mississippi is known as the Pine Belt, because there are so many pine trees. Did you know they have a very shallow root base ? There were many trees uprooted as well as many broken in half. Which is why getting the damage reported and help to the families took so long. There were huge trees all over the roads and no one could get in or out, there was no electricity phone to call for help. During the first few days, it was each neighborhood for themselves, to see that everyone was safe and try to get food and water. Most people in the outlying communities have wells, but without electricity they couldn't pump the water from the wells. (continued next column)
When they made sure the people were safe they tried to saw up the trees, without sawing the electric wires they were tangled up with, to get the roads open enough to get a car through, if they had gas for the chain saws. After 2 weeks, there were still some areas that couldn't be reached by car, because of trees and power lines in the road. The ERV's (Emergency Rescue Vehicle) would pull up as close as they could get to houses, blow their horn and start dishing up meals to hand out. After the first day in an area they knew how many they needed, so when they would get 10 ready, one person would start with meals, snacks and water, down the tree and wire cluttered road, jumping, tripping, going over and going under huge trees and limbs, to meet the people that were being sent to the ERV to get food for the community. The people from the ERV would usually make only one trip in, by the time the people could get out to the ERV to carry the rest of the food and water themselves. It was a heartwarming yet very sad sight to see. There were always many hugs, tears, thank you's, thank God for you and God Bless You's. Everywhere I went I shared many hugs and tears with people as I listened to their stories of hunger, loss and destruction, but rarely of defeat. And as God would have it, the truck of supplies that Lloyd Pittsenbarger brought down from all my church and people of Sandusky, ended up in one of the small communities close by we, (the Red Cross) were trying to get help to. Lloyd's travel through the downed trees and wires was not an easy task.
There are many stories about the damage of Katrina, and even more about the lives affected. Some of those lives will show lasting effects. Hopefully we can make a little difference and brighten a few of them.
Thank you for your prayers and the support. You don't know how much the things you send and money you donate are appreciated, until you look into the eyes of the people receiving them. God Bless You for your continued support.
Blessings & Joy,
Peni
The Northwest Ohio Association
